Dendritic cells (DC), antigen-presenting cells capable of priming naive T cells to specific antigens in an HLA restricted fashion, have been demonstrated to induce protective T cell-mediated immunity in tumor-bearing animals. We performed this study to test the safety, feasibility, and immunologic and clinical response of immunizations within vitro-generated DC, loaded with an HLA A2 restricted peptide fragment of the tumor antigen carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or loaded with the mRNA encoding CEA, for the treatment of patients with stage I, II and III pancreatic cancer. Cell preparations enriched for autologous DC were generated from the patients' plastic adherent peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in serum-free media supplemented with GM-CSF and IL-4. Patients received monthly immunization for a total of 6 months. Leukapheresis specimens are analyzed for CEA specific T cell responses before initiating and after completing all immunizations.